


Kill the lights

by implicit_despair



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: After Game, Angst, Gen, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Major DRV3 Spoilers, Past Abuse, Post canon, but take it as you will, no ships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-23
Updated: 2018-01-23
Packaged: 2019-03-08 10:49:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13456644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/implicit_despair/pseuds/implicit_despair
Summary: The last time Kaede ever felt like a celebrity was years ago, and now she's dealing with the aftermath of fame. With a failed piano career, abusive marriages and no family and friends to contact whatsoever, Kaede finds that her only option is to lay low. After all, what else can she do?





	Kill the lights

Kaede sighed and nodded to the tune of _Flea Waltz_ while clutching a red solo cup filled to the top with red wine. She had a tight choker around her neck, one almost resembling a rope. As the song continued to play she was nodding noticeably faster. The recording was played perfectly yet Kaede could still hear the other version by a black and white robot bear whose name wasn’t quite clear to her. The years have been cruel to her, a failing piano career, two abusive marriages, and a house that almost looked like the remains of the Academy for Gifted Juveniles as she had seen it on the television after a robot who her alter personality thought of as her friend.

She shuddered at the thought of her personality during the game, all cheery and optimistic. Her contract with Team Danganronpa that she agreed to as a teenager mentioned that she would have to keep her personality the same as how it was in the game to please the fans, but since Danganronpa ended, her old self was breaking free. Kaede finished the remains of her wine in one gulp, the cheap sourness stinging her throat,  before getting off her crumb filled recliner and switching off the music. She walked over to her bathroom, her hallway like an obstacle course with all the trash and clothes lying around everywhere. Her bathroom was no better, faded tiles coming off her walls and every cabinet off its hinges. Kaede still stepped in, locked the door, and stared at herself in the mirror.

Her bright blonde hair, still with a strand of her sticking out, was fastened in a messy bun that lay askew on the top of her head. It wobbled every time she would tilt her head the slightest. Kaede slowly reached for the faucet and turned it and an unsteady stream of cold water came spurting out. She cupped both hands together, collected the water and splashed it onto her face. Drops rolled down her face and onto her oversized stained gray sweatshirt that barely covered her delicates. She opted to buy a new one, but one phone call from the bank warning her that her account balance was about to hit to minimum amount stopped her.

Her youthful face was washed away with years of hatred and depression, topped off with isolation which was just the cherry on top of the whole cluster-fuck that was her adult life. After Danganronpa’s very extensive therapy, Kaede was finally able to pick up the piano again. She wasn’t the best at playing, but she was still good enough from her past life to be able to play at cafes and small venues thanks to her reputation of being on Danganonpa’s final season. When the dark circles under her eyes seemed to have darkened even more, she found herself covered in scars, drowning in debt, and being kicked out of venues due to her “drunken” appearance. Since then, Kaede’s usually routine has been downing drink after drink. After two drinks, she’d start dancing around her room, after five she’d begin to undress, and after seven drinks she found herself wishing her death was real, sitting on the floor in only her undergarments, the ghost of tears giving her cheeks a dewy sheen.

Now, Kaede was in a relatively bad place. Her second divorce settlement had gone public thanks to her former publicist trying to get revenge for being fired. The tabloids have the headlines of ‘Serial Wife?’ or something more along the lines of ‘Pianist Goes Down With Her Career!’, which was always comforting to hear. It had been a bit more than a decade since the killing game ended, but the hype was still at an all time high. Now younger generations were obsessed with so-called ‘vintage’ shows, and for some reason that included Danganronpa. Kaede assumed they got hooked the same way she had did, by the amusing sight of hope turning into despair, seeing all those innocent characters turn rouge excited her. Well, teenage her. Danganronpa had been cut off from television after multiple police complaints were received after the finale of the fifty-third season mostly from parents calling the show ‘ridiculous’ and ‘insane’. But after seeing her audition video shown in the finale, Kaede did feel insane, but the rush was unlike anything she had experienced before. Just the thought of stabbing a knife through another person’s body and being paid for it? Even if it was just a simulation, the effects were still the same.

Kaede slowly turned off the tap and headed out the bathroom. At the end of the hallway was her room, heavily guarded with piles of miscellaneous crap she had bought with her Danganronpa money when it still existed. For participating in the game and being the first killer she received a large sum of money, she then immediately bought her house with the money. After that, she bought anything she wanted, and now it was compiled into large trash bags labeled ‘to be pawned’. As she neared her bedroom, which was probably the only place she kept clean, she passed by a photo which lay atop of the trash bag nearest to her bedroom door. She smiled slightly as she picked it up. It was a photo of the whole cast, all suited in their uniforms. Kaede bit her lip as she examined the photo closely, in the photo she was smiling brightly, an arm wrapped around Shuichi’s neck. She had almost forgotten about him, in fact, the last time they had spoken was on her birthday. Five years ago.

She set down the photo, scared to remember any more memories, rushed into her room, slamming the door as soon as she was inside and locking it as if a monster was chasing her. Kaede leaned against the door and sunk down onto the floor, the effects of the wine were really starting to kick in. Kaede closed her fluttering eyes, as her room slowly began to darken. Then suddenly, the world was silent. It was a moment of silence for her, she may not have died, but a part of her did that day she auditioned for Danganronpa. Would she not audition if she had to chance to change her decision? Probably. But for now, she spoke to the wine, and it spoke back to her.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading this short one-shot! the title is from the song 'kill the lights' by set it off as i got the idea for the story while listening to the song. i hope you enjoyed as i love writing (and reading) post and pre game fics as it's really interesting to explore the characters from a new angle.
> 
> ♪~ ᕕ(ᐛ)ᕗ


End file.
